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eppur_se_muova

(40,410 posts)
8. He's destroying our shared past.
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 11:23 AM
Thursday

'There is a Party slogan dealing with the control of the past,' he said. 'Repeat it, if you please.'

"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past," repeated Winston obediently.

"Who controls the present controls the past," said O'Brien, nodding his head with slow approval. 'Is it your opinion, Winston, that the past has real existence?'

Again the feeling of helplessness descended upon Winston. His eyes flitted towards the dial. He not only did not know whether 'yes' or 'no' was the answer that would save him from pain; he did not even know which answer he believed to be the true one.

O'Brien smiled faintly. 'You are no metaphysician, Winston,' he said. 'Until this moment you had never considered what is meant by existence. I will put it more precisely. Does the past exist concretely, in space? Is there somewhere or other a place, a world of solid objects, where the past is still happening?'

'No.'

'Then where does the past exist, if at all?'

'In records. It is written down.'

'In records. And- ?'

'In the mind. In human memories.

'In memory. Very well, then. We, the Party, control all records, and we control all memories. Then we control the past, do we not?'

'But how can you stop people remembering things?' cried Winston again momentarily forgetting the dial. 'It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How can you control memory? You have not controlled mine!'

O'Brien's manner grew stern again. He laid his hand on the dial.

'On the contrary,' he said, 'you have not controlled it. That is what has brought you here. You are here because you have failed in humility, in self-discipline. You would not make the act of submission which is the price of sanity. You preferred to be a lunatic, a minority of one. Only the disciplined mind can see reality, Winston. You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right. You also believe that the nature of reality is self-evident. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you have got to relearn, Winston. It needs an act of self-destruction, an effort of the will. You must humble yourself before you can become sane.'

https://www.abhafoundation.org/assets/books/html/1984/162.html

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1 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

He's that asshole who ruins everyone's birthday leftstreet Thursday #1
I try to remain optimistic EYESORE 9001 Thursday #2
It is all a big grift. Trump probably doesn't care if it ever gets built? Irish_Dem Thursday #5
Having noted an alarming number of similarities between the Trumpsky regime and Nazi Germany... Harker Thursday #11
I tend to think that he intends to destroy the entire WH. ananda Thursday #3
I agree, he hates the WH, thinks it is a dump. Irish_Dem Thursday #6
That certainly fits his demented, narcissistic personality. ananda Thursday #13
Yes he could move the presidential residence location to wherever he wants. Irish_Dem Thursday #14
Nah. He's spent too much of our money guiding it with gold. n/t Ms. Toad Thursday #9
But is it real gold, or that cheap plated plastic stuff? ananda Thursday #12
It's spray paint D00ver66 Thursday #16
Pretty sure it's real, Ms. Toad Thursday #18
LOL. ananda Thursday #19
I didn't say it was true - Ms. Toad Thursday #21
Money is no object. He would steal it all and start over in a new location. Irish_Dem Thursday #15
There is more going on behind the scenes too. Irish_Dem Thursday #4
He's literally tearing down our institutions. Iggo Thursday #7
He's destroying our shared past. eppur_se_muova Thursday #8
I keep thinking about the hands that built it... littlemissmartypants Thursday #10
For some reason, the person I think of most is Michelle Obama. Ms. Toad Thursday #20
I'm sure it hurt her deeply and made her physically ill. 💔 littlemissmartypants Thursday #22
I'm going to hold the grieving until he is gone. Hope22 Thursday #17
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